The Ladins
Ladin is a Rhaeto-Romance language spoken by about 50,000 people in the Dolomites in Northern Italy. The Ladins live in three provinces, namely in the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol (approx. 20,500), in the Autonomous Province of Trento (approx.18,500), and in the Province of Belluno (approx. 15,000).
In the 6th century, the Ladins were displaced by migrating groups from Southern and Northern Europe. In the following centuries, large parts of formerly Ladin areas were Germanized or Italianized. The language survived only in some remote Alpine Valleys. During Italian nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries, Ladin was considered an Italian dialect and hence left without specific norms to protect or promote the language.
The 1972 Autonomy Statute of the of Autonomous Region Trentino-South Tyrol as well as its reform in 2001 guarantee broad minority protection to the Ladins. In the Ladin municipalities of the provinces of South Tyrol and Trento, Ladin is the official language and is taught in schools. In the Province of Belluno (Veneto Region), minority rights are far more limited. Ladin is recognized as a minority language and minority cultures are to be protected by law, but otherwise the region's contribution tends to be limited to the funding of culture.
Under Italian Fascism, the Ladin territory was divided among three provinces, resulting in very small numbers of Ladin-speakers in each province. This had negative effects on the preservation of the Ladin language and culture as it made it difficult for the Ladins to present themselves as a united group and to stand up together for their collective interests.
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